Writing Vows
by MsGodric
Summary: 'It was the first time he had been properly alone since he had re-proposed last week, and Ted decided to use this to advantage, and sat down in his small study towards the back of his house to write his Vows.' The day before the wedding, Ted has trouble writing his Vows, so he calls over his best-friend, Lily Aldrin. Ted/Lily friendship. Ted/Tracy. Oneshot


A/N: Another oneshot inbetween updates of _'Our Yellow Umbrella'. _This one is Ted centric, with some Ted/Lily friendship, and hints of Ted/Tracy. Enjoy!

Writing Vows

It was Tuesday, March 24th, the day before the wedding. Tracy had taken the kids out to buy them their outfits for the special occasion, therefore leaving Ted in the house alone.

It was the first time he had been properly alone since he had re-proposed last week, and Ted decided to use this to advantage, and sat down in his small study towards the back of his house to write his Vows.

He had assumed it would be easy. His Vows to Stella had been; he had written them in about half an hour, having everything he needed to say on a single sheet of paper, double sided, with his proclaiming his love for her in ways he didn't know existed. And they were great, even if he hadn't had a chance to read them.

With Tracy however, it was different. His love for her was so powerful, that he had no ways to describe it with words; he simply didn't know how. He was staring down at a blank sheet of paper, his fountain pen in the top left-hand corner, his mind completely blank. There were so many emotions and so many thoughts swirling around inside him, yet he couldn't begin to write them down. He didn't even know what he wanted to Vow to her. He knew the whole _'In sickness and health'_ thing and _'for richer and for poorer' _but they were so cliche and overused and meant nothing to him whatsoever. And Tracy deserved more than some lines that almost every man had used, she deserved words and feelings that came from him and his heart.

His hand began to shake, and a drop of ink dropped down onto the page, splatting the paper with a tear of colour. He stared at it, his heart quickening, before finally accepting that there was only one thing left to do.

He put the lid on his pen, placed it on the table, and leaned across the desk for the phone. He punched a number into it, before raising it up to his ear.

On the third ring, she answered.

"Hello?"

"Oh my God Lily, I need you, can you _please_ come over right now?" He begged.

"Ted? Is everything okay?" She asked worridly.

"Everything's fine, I'm fine, I just.. I need help with something."

"Are you sure you want me? Maybe Marshall could help you, one second- _MARSHALL!"_

"No, I need you Lily! I'm.. I'm writing my Vows and I need some help."

"-_ IT'S TED AN- _Wait, you need help writing you Vows?"

"Yes! Please please please come over, I'm really struggling!"

"Okay, okay, I'll see you in a minute," she replied.

"Oh thank you so much Lily, thank you."

He hung up the phone, breathing a sigh of relief. If anyone could help him with this, it was Lily. Lily was great at advice and life lessons, and she had a way with words that even Ted didn't have.

After about 15-20 minutes, there was a knock on the door. Ted jumped up quickly, racing out of the room and down the hall, opening the door.

Lily stood there, her red hair up in a ponytail, a large book in her arms.

"I came as quickly as I could," she breathed, as he stepped aside so she could come in. She walked in, and he shut the door behind her.

"I brought this book with me, it's got great tips and cool phrases; I bought it when you and Tracy first got engaged, just as a safety precaution."

"Thanks," Ted replied, as they walked down to his study. The reached the door, and Ted beckoned her in.

Once they were inside, Ted dropped into the seat he vacated before, and Lily stood looking over his shoulder; she dropped the book onto the desk.

"What are you having trouble with? Figuring out what you want to Vow? How to start?"

"Everything," Ted mumbled, his head in his hands. "Absolutely everything."

"Hmm, have you thought about you Vows to Stella?"

"No," Ted moaned. "Those were nasty, if they only took me half an hour, they weren't true love."

"I suppose not," Lily sighed, before leaning over and opening her book.

"It's got all different ways to start here," she explained, flicking through a few pages. "Starting with a story, a quote, a dream, all different things."

"Hmm," Ted replied, glancing down at the book. It surely had a lot of ideas, but none of them were clicking with him. They all seemed either too far-fetched and cliche or not far-fetched enough.

"Lily this isn't working," he groaned.

"I guess not," she murmured, sighing as the shut it. "Let's try something different... I'm going to.. ask you questions, and all you have to do is answer."

"Okay.." he said, slightly uneasily.

Lily picked up a spare piece of paper, grabbed a pen from the holder, and perched himself on the edge of his desk.

"Right. Describe how you felt when you first met Tracy."

"And this is going to help how?"

"Just do it!"

"Fine," he said. "When I first met Tracy, I was shocked at how easily I could talk to her."

"Give me more!" Lily commanded.

"Right, right. I was filled with this unusual feeling of butterflies and excitement and love; in that moment, I could have sworn my heart was beating a mile a minute, trying to break free from my chest. My arms gained goosebumps from the minute she began to speak, and my legs felt as if they were going to.. to give way, and let me collaspe on the floor. My.. my head was dizzy, my palms sweaty and.. and it was all because of her."

"Brilliant," Lily whispered, as she wrote on the paper. "Beautiful."

She looked up at him, smiling. "Now, describe how you feel when you wake up next to her every morning."

Ted swallowed. "Everytime I wake up, I'm shocked because she's really there and it's not some dream that I could wake up from. I just watch her sleep, and adore the little things she does, like scrunch up her nose or nestle closer towards me. It makes me feel lucky, like I'm special, because out of everyone, she chose to wake up each morning next to me."

"What would you do for her?"

"I think the question is what wouldn't I do," he replied. "I would follow her to the ends of the Earth, and I wouldn't even complain. I would comfort her when she needs comforting and laugh with her when she's laughing. I would take a bullet for her without a second choice; I would stay up late at night and hold her through each and every turn of pain or discomfort. There is nothing I wouldn't do, there is nothing I wouldn't give her."

Lily smiled, not lifting her head up from the sheet in front of her.

"One last question; what would you do if she wasn't happy?"

Ted sighed, shaking his head. "If she wasn't happy, I'd.. I'd find a way to make her happy. I wouldn't stop until she was happy, and if that meant making me upset or angry, I'd still do it. She is my first priority, and if making her happy means upsetting me, then I suck it up and I do it. If she's happy, I'm happy, and that's it."

Lily nodded, biting her lip as she quickly jotted something down. She continued writing for another minute, before sitting up, raising her head, and looking fairly satisfied with herself.

"And there are you Vows."

She handed him the paper, and he realized that it was full up. His eyes widened, as he read what she had wrote.

_When we first met, I was filled with this unusal feeling of butterflies and excitement and love; in that moment, I could have sworn my heart was beating a mile a minute, trying to breakfree from my chest. My arms were covered in goosebumps from the moment you began to speak. You're voice.. it made my legs shake, as if they were going to crumble to the floor. My head was spinning, going dizzy, and my palms were growing sweaty and it was all because of _you. _Every morning when I wake up, and see you lying next to me, I'm shocked and thankful that it's not some dream I'm just going to wake up from; you're really there, sleeping soundly beside me, and my heart flips. I watch you sleep, adoring the way you scrunch up your nose and nestle closer to me, and it hits me that it's real. I feel special because you chose me out of everyone, and it's actually happening. I love you so much; I would do anything for you; I would follow you to the ends of the Earth. I'll comfort you when you're upset, I'll laugh with you when you feel the urge to laugh. I would take a bullet for you without a second choice. I'll stay up late at night and hold you through every turn of pain and discomfort, because I love you and I Vow that I will never stop. I Vow that each and everything that I have listed, I'll do, because I love you. If you weren't happy, I wouldn't stop until you were. And if that meant making me miserable, I wouldn't care because your happiness is my happiness. You're my first priority, and I Vow that you always will be. If you're happy, I'm happy, and that's the way we work. I can talk to you about everything and anything, ever since we first met on that train platform. I Vow that I will always tell you the truth, and that I will always be the man you fell in love with seven years ago. There is nothing I wouldn't do for you nothing I would deny you; I love you Tracy McConnell, and I Vow that I will never stop._

"Oh My God Lily, I can't believe you wrote this!" Ted exclaimed, looking up once he had finished. "It's amazing, it's beautiful!"

"I didn't write it," Lily stated, as she blew on her nails.

"What? You were writing on your pap-"

"You said it Teddy, I just put it down onto the paper."

His eyes widened. "I said all that?"

"Well, most of it; I added a few tiny things in, here and there, but it is mainly your words. This girl is lucky to have you Ted."

"I'm lucky to have her," he replied, glancing back towards the Vows.

"You're lucky to have eachother," Lily corrected, nodding.

"Very true."

"Now, I should get going; Marshall wants me to pick up a Pizza on the way home, and trust me, if I'm not home soon, he'll get grumpy."

Ted laughed. "Yeah, you're right, well thanks so much Lily, I can't believe this!"

"It was all there Teddy, you jusy had to unlock it," Lily told him, giving him a hug.

He lead her to the door, kissing her cheek as she left.

After she had gone, he cleared up his study, folding his Vows up and placing them inside his pocket. He then flopped down on the couch, and watched TV.

An hour later, the door opened, and Tracy entered with the Kids.

"Hey honey," Tracy said, as she walked into the living room. The Kids raced past her, jumping on Ted, who smiled as he wrapped his arms around them.

"Hey," he replied.

"What did you do all afternoon?" She asked, leaning down and quickly kissing him.

"Oh, you know, the usual."


End file.
